Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) reps gathered for a three-day writeshop to streamline and update the country’s Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) curriculum. DTI’s YEP now adds life skills, business readiness, and design thinking—from EDC’s Be Your Own Boss modules—drastically increasing the Filipino youth’s chances at success in business.
Dr. Thomas LeBlanc, Education Chief at USAID Philippines, reiterated in a message of support the importance of including the untapped workforce of out-of-school youth in programs enabling local economic growth. Out-of-school youth in the Philippines, who aspire to be entrepreneurs, are not known to access youth entrepreneurship programs from the government. These can be attributed to a lack of awareness, misconceptions about the requirements and processes, or the accessibility of the program to vulnerable populations in the country in terms of content and delivery.
The group, composed of 20 participants from 17 regions, ensured the draft reconciles redundancies, finetunes content, and aligns with DTI operations, setting the enhanced YEP up for upscaling and sustainability. The enhanced curriculum also mainstreams opportunities in Green/Blue Economies and Access To Capital into DTI’s YEP. Following the writeshop, the enhanced YEP curriculum will be finalized and presented to DTI leadership for adoption in 2023. A national training for DTI trainers is planned for next year to ensure the Department is capacitated and equipped for the quality and scaled-up roll out of the enhanced YEP.
Through USAID support in curriculum enhancement, the youth entrepreneurship program in the Philippines will be more accessible to aspiring young entrepreneurs, especially the most vulnerable populations, and equip them with skills and mindsets that significantly improve their chances of successfully setting up and growing their own micro-enterprises.#
